Semiconductor chip carriers with monolithically integrated quantum dot devices and method of manufacture thereof

ABSTRACT

A three-dimensional polycrystalline semiconductor material provides a major ingredient forming individual crystalline grains having a nominal maximum grain diameter less than or equal to 50 nm, and a minor ingredient forming boundaries between the individual crystalline grains.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional application61/409,846 entitled “QUANTUM DOT FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR IN A FULLYINTEGRATED SILICON CARRIER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE” filed Nov. 3,2010.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to bulk semiconducting materialsthat are structurally designed and chemically engineered at nanometerdimensional scales to exhibit properties of a three-dimensional electrongas, and in particular to the incorporation of these uniquesemiconductor materials into a semiconductor carrier that is used toelectrically interconnect additional semiconductor die comprising alarger microelectronic system with other active electrical oropto-electronic devices monolithically integrated into the carriersurface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates specifically to a bulk semiconductingmaterial that consists of a uniform distribution of nanoscalepolycrystalline grains wherein the diameter of the polycrystallinegrains is limited to nanometer physical dimensions such that thenanoscale texture of the semiconducting material induces quantum-sizeeffects within the polycrystalline grains that endow the bulksemiconductor with electrical or optical properties (herein referred toas “general dielectric properties”) of a three-dimensional (3D) electrongas. An additional specific embodiment of the invention relates tomethods and processes that diffuse electrically conducting or electricalinsulating materials into the grain boundaries of the nanoscalepolycrystalline grains.

The present invention relates generally to the monolithic assembly of anactive electronic, photonic, or opto-electronic device that comprises alayer of semiconductor material having thickness greater than 50 nmwhich exhibits the general dielectric properties of a 3D electron gasonto a semiconductor chip carrier that is used to electricallyinterconnect various additional semiconductor die into a moresophisticated microelectronic system. Such various active electronic oropto-electronic devices may include, but are not limited to, high powerdensity/high-speed power management circuits, stable clock generators,electrical signal modulators, optical sensors, optical power generators,optical signal generators and/or modulators or thermoelectric systems,

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

T. J. Phillips et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,173,292), (hereinafter referredto as Phillips '292), teaches that runaway currents (avalanchebreakdown) caused by impact ionization in modulation-doped field effect(MODFET) or high electron mobility (HEMT) transistors applied to narrowband gap semiconductor materials is mitigated or substantiallyeliminated by forming a quantum well field effect transistor (QWFET).The quantum well FET consists of thin multi-layered structurescomprising one or more wide band gap semiconductors. (See FIGS. 1&2).FIG. 1 depicts a vertical cross section of a QWFET 1 that comprises aquantum well region 2 embedded between two wide band gap semiconductorlayers 3,4. The quantum well region 2 consists of a plurality ofdiffering semiconductor layers 5,6,7. The central layer 6 forms aprimary conduction channel that is bounded by semiconductor materials5,7 forming secondary conduction channels having semiconductor band gaps21,22 greater than the band gap 23 of semiconductor material that isused in the layer forming the primary conduction channel 6, but lessthan the band gaps 24,25 of the wide band gap semiconductor layers 3,4.FIG. 2 shows the representative energy band gap diagram 20 for thelayered semiconductor structure depicted in FIG. 1 viewed fromcross-sectional perspective defined by X-X′.

The field effect device is created by inserting the quantum well region2 between two conductive doped source 8 and drain 9 regions. Anelectrical bias applied to the gate electrode 10 is then used tomodulate current supplied to the source electrode 11 when it iscollected by the drain electrode 12. The high charged carrier mobilitiesavailable in QWFET devices enable high switching speeds reported in therange between 250 GHz to 1 THz, and thus have value in high switchingspeed systems or millimeter-wave communications systems.

In a QWFET device, the central layer 6 must be sufficiently thin (20-50nm) to form a 2-D electron gas through quantization effects in thequantum well contained in the primary conduction channel. Thequantization effects are generated by the nanometer scale thickness ofthe central layer 6 and the height of the band edges 26,27 created bycontacting to the semiconductor layers 5,7 that form the quantum well28. These quantization effects create the discrete energy levels 29,30of the high electron mobility 2-electron gas. The semiconductor layers5,7 provide higher ionization thresholds that prevent currents flowingin the primary conduction channel in the central layer 6 from undergoingavalanche breakdown through impact ionization processes. Examples of lowband gap semiconductor materials used in the primary channels are indiumantimonide (InSb), indium arsenide (InAs), indium arsenic antimonide(InAs_((1-y))Sb_(y)), indium gallium antimonide (In_((1-x))Ga_(x)Sb),and/or indium gallium arsenide (In_((1-x))Ga_(x)As).

2. DEFINITION OF TERMS

The term “active component” is herein understood to refer to itsconventional definition as an element of an electrical circuit that thatdoes require electrical power to operate and is capable of producingpower gain.

The term “alkali metal” is herein understood to refer to itsconventional definition meaning the group of metallic elements in columnIA of the periodic table, consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium,rubidium, cesium, and francium.

The term “alkaline earth metal” is herein understood to refer to itsconventional definition meaning the group of metallic elements found incolumn IIA of the periodic table, consisting of magnesium, calcium,strontium, barium, and radium.

The term “amorphous material” is herein understood to mean a materialthat does not comprise a periodic lattice of atomic elements, or lacksmid-range (over distances of 10's of nanometers) to long-rangecrystalline order (over distances of 100's of nanometers).

The terms “chemical complexity”, “compositional complexity”, “chemicallycomplex”, or “compositionally complex” are herein understood to refer toa material, such as a metal or superalloy, compound semiconductor, orceramic that consists of three (3) or more elements from the periodictable.

The term “chip carrier” is herein understood to refer to an interconnectstructure built into a semiconductor substrate that contains wiringelements and embedded active components that route electrical signalsbetween one or more integrated circuits mounted on chip carrier'ssurface and a larger electrical system that they may be connected to.

The term “electron gas” is herein understood to refer to its generallyaccepted definition as a collection of electrons (or holes) that arefree to move within a modified solid via tunneling processes and havehigher mobilities than they would normally have in a similar unmodifiedsolid, wherein quantization effects generated by the solid'smodification (typically nanoscale layering) induce a quantum energy wellthat govern and define the transport properties of the electrons (holes)and minimize interactions between the electron (holes) located withinthe quantum energy well.

The term “FET” is herein understood to refer to its generally accepteddefinition of a field effect transistor wherein a voltage applied to aninsulated gate electrode induces an electrical field through insulatorthat is used to modulate a current between a source electrode and adrain electrode.

The term “halogen” is herein understood to refer to its conventionaldefinition meaning the nonmetallic elements contained in column VIIA ofthe periodic table consisting of fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine,and astatine.

The term “halogenated” is herein understood to refer to its conventionaldefinition meaning a molecule or substance that has been treated orcombined with a halogen.

The term “integrated circuit” is herein understood to mean asemiconductor chip into which a large, very large, or ultra-large numberof transistor elements have been embedded.

The term “LCD” is herein understood to mean a method that uses liquidprecursor solutions to fabricate materials of arbitrary compositional orchemical complexity as an amorphous laminate or free-standing body or asa crystalline laminate or free-standing body that has atomic-scalechemical uniformity and a microstructure that is controllable down tonanoscale dimensions.

The term “liquid precursor solution” is herein understood to mean asolution of hydrocarbon molecules that also contains solublemetalorganic compounds that may or may not be organic acid salts of thehydrocarbon molecules into which they are dissolved.

The term “microstructure” is herein understood to define the elementalcomposition and physical size of crystalline grains forming a materialsubstance.

The term “mismatched materials” is herein understood to define twomaterials that have dissimilar crystalline lattice structure, or latticeconstants that differ by 5% or more, and/or thermal coefficients ofexpansion that differ by 10% or more.

The term “nanoscale” is herein understood to define physical dimensionsmeasured in lengths ranging from 1 nanometer (nm) to 100's of nanometers(nm).

The term “opto-electronic device” is herein understood to refer to anydevice that uses an electrical signal to modulate an optical signalhaving energetic characteristics defined by the optical, infrared (near,mid or far), millimeter wave, sub-millimeter wave, or ultraviolet (nearor far) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, or visa-versa.

The term “passive component” is herein understood to refer to itsconventional definition as an element of an electrical circuit that thatdoes not require electrical power to operate and is capable of alteringan electrical signal's amplitude and/or phase or being used as an energystorage device.

The term “photonic device” is herein understood to refer to a devicethat uses a signal having energetic characteristics defined by theoptical, infrared (near, mid, or far), millimeter wave, sub-millimeterwave, or ultraviolet (near or far) electromagnetic spectrum to modulateone or more additional signal having energetic characteristics definedby the optical, infrared (near, mid, or far), millimeter wave,sub-millimeter wave or ultraviolet (near or far) regions of theelectromagnetic spectrum.

The term “power FET” is herein understood to refer to the generallyaccepted definition for a large signal vertically configured MOSFET andcovers multi-channel (MUCHFET), V-groove MOSFET, truncated V-grooveMOSFET, double-diffusion DMOSFET, modulation-doped transistors (MODFET),heterojunction transistors (HETFET), and insulated-gate bipolartransistors (IGBT).

The term “quantum dot” is herein understood to apply to its conventionalmeaning of a material domain that is small enough to induce quantum-sizeeffects that exhibit the electronic, optical, or opto-electroniccharacteristics of an electron gas.

The term “standard operating temperatures” is herein understood to meanthe range of temperatures between −40° C. and +125° C.

The terms “tight tolerance” or “critical tolerance” are hereinunderstood to mean a performance value, such as a capacitance,inductance, or resistance that varies less than ±1% over standardoperating temperatures.

The term “II-VI compound semiconductor” is herein understood to refer toits conventional meaning describing a compound semiconductor comprisingat least one element from column IIB of the periodic table consistingof: zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), or mercury (Hg); and, at least one elementfrom column VI of the periodic table consisting of: oxygen (O), sulfur(S), selenium (Se), or tellurium (Te).

The term “III-V compound semiconductor” is herein understood to refer toits conventional meaning describing a compound semiconductor comprisingat least one semi-metallic element from column III of the periodic tableconsisting of: boron (B), aluminum (Al), gallium (Ga), and indium (In);and, at least one gaseous or semi-metallic element from the column V ofthe periodic table consisting of: nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), arsenic(As), antimony (Sb), or bismuth (Bi).

The term “IV-IV compound semiconductor” is herein understood to refer toits conventional meaning describing a compound semiconductor comprisinga plurality of elements from column IV of the periodic table consistingof: carbon (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), or lead (Pb).

The term “IV-VI compound semiconductor” is herein understood to refer toits conventional meaning describing a compound semiconductor comprisingat least one element from column IV of the periodic table consisting of:carbon (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), or lead (Pb); and,at least one element from column VI of the periodic table consisting of:sulfur (S), selenium (Se), or tellurium (Te).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to fully integratedsemiconductor chip carriers that contain systems that function at highswitching speeds, and in particular to processes and methods that enablethe monolithic integration of active devices comprising a bulk materiallayer exhibiting quantum-size effects or the characteristics of aquantum dot throughout the bulk material layer.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a three-dimensionalpolycrystalline semiconductor material, comprising a major ingredientforming individual crystalline grains having a nominal maximum graindiameter less than or equal to 50 nm, and a minor ingredient formingboundaries between the individual crystalline grains.

The minor ingredient may surround the crystalline grains of the majoringredient. Quantum size effects within the polycrystalline material mayinduce a free electron gas characteristic of a quantum well. Thepolycrystalline material may form a three-dimensional quantum wellstructure. The molar concentrations of the minor ingredient may bebetween 0.0001 mol % and 0.75 mol % of the polycrystalline material. Themajor ingredient may comprise the crystalline grains is silicon,germanium, tin, or any admixture thereof. The minor ingredient formingthe grain boundaries may be an insulating, semi-insulating, orsemiconducting material consisting of a metal halide comprising analkali element from the first (I) column or an alkaline earth elementfrom second (II) column of the periodic table, or a transition-metalhaving chemical properties similar to an alkali or alkaline earth metal,and a halogen element selected from the seventh (VII) column of theperiodic table. The insulating or semi-insulating material has an energyband gap may be larger than the band gap of the semiconductor materialcomprising the polycrystalline grain. The minor ingredient forming thegrain boundaries may be a conductive material consisting of an alkalielement from the first (I) column or an alkaline earth element fromsecond (II) column of the periodic table, or a transition-metal havingchemical properties similar to an alkali or alkaline earth metal. Themajor ingredient may comprise crystalline grains is a III-V compoundsemiconducting material and the minor ingredient forming the boundariesmay be an insulating, semi-insulating, or semiconducting materialconsisting of a metal halide comprising an alkali element from the first(I) column or a transition-metal having chemical properties similar toan alkali metal, and a halogen element selected from the seventh (VII)column of the periodic table. The major ingredient of the crystallinegrains may be a II-VI compound semiconductor and the minor ingredientforming the boundaries is silicon, silicon carbide, germanium, tin or anadmixture thereof. The polycrystalline material may have a threedimensional size that is greater than 50 nm in every direction. Thepolycrystalline material may be monolithically integrated into an activedevice. The active device may be a field effect transistor, anopto-electronic device or a photonic device. The major ingredientcomprising crystalline grains may be a III-V compound semiconductingmaterial and the minor ingredient forming the boundaries may be aconducting material consisting of an alkali element from the first (I)column or a transition-metal having chemical properties similar to analkali metal.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductorcarrier, comprising an active device including a semiconductor layerthat is monolithically integrated into the semiconductor carrier and iscomprised of a nanoscale polycrystalline assembly includingsemiconducting crystalline grains having maximal physical dimensions inthe range of 20 nm to 50 nm that are enveloped by a grain boundarymaterial that is 2 nm to 10 nm thick, such that the quantum size effectswithin the polycrystalline grain induce a free electron gascharacteristic of a quantum well.

The active device may be a field effect transistor, an opto-electronicdevice or a photonic device. The active device may comprise a powermanagement module monolithically integrated on to its surface. Theactive device may comprise a semiconductor die. The semiconductorcarrier may have active circuitry embedded within the carrier substrate.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a method offabricating a semiconductor layer comprised of a nanoscalepolycrystalline assembly including semiconducting crystalline grainshaving maximal physical dimensions in the range of 20 nm to 50 nm thatare enveloped by a grain boundary material that is 2 nm to 10 nm thick,such that the quantum size effects within the polycrystalline graininduce a free electron gas characteristic of a quantum well, comprisingthe steps of: forming a solution of low volatility liquid metalorganicprecursors having stoichiometric ratios suitable for producing majorityphase polycrystalline grains consisting of an elemental semiconductor ora desired compound semiconductor stoichiometry; adding to said solutiondopants in concentrations in the range of 0.0001 mol % to 0.5 mol %having stoichiometric ratios suitable for producing an insulating,semi-insulating, or semiconducting secondary phase material in the grainboundary of the majority phase polycrystalline grains; adding to saidsolution precursors for the dopants to the majority phasepolycrystalline grains in the concentrations desired within thepolycrystalline grains, heating a substrate upon which the semiconductorlayer will be formed a temperature in the range of 250° C. to 500° C.;simultaneously decomposing the non-volatile metalorganic precursors onthe substrate in an inert or reducing gas atmosphere to form anamorphous deposit having stoichiometric precision that is chemicallyuniform at the atomic scale; baking said amorphous deposit to removeorganic residue from the deposit; annealing said baked deposit for aminimum of 5 seconds in ionized argon plasma using an applied power of50 W to 300 W at a substrate temperature between 40° C. and 400° C. anda pressure in the range of 1,500 mTorr to 5,000 mTorr; and optionallyadding nitrogen, and/or reducing partial pressure ratios of carbondioxide and carbon monoxide to the ionized argon plasma.

The semiconducting material of the crystalline grains may be silicon,germanium, tin, or any admixture thereof. The grain boundary materialmay be an insulating, semi-insulating, or semiconducting materialconsisting of a metal halide comprising an alkali element from the first(I) column or an alkaline earth element from second (II) column of theperiodic table, or a transition-metal having chemical properties similarto an alkali or alkaline earth metal, and a halogen element selectedfrom the seventh (VII) column of the periodic table. The insulating orsemi-insulating material may have an energy band gap that is larger thanthe band gap of the semiconductor material comprising thepolycrystalline grain. The semiconductor material of the crystallinegrains may be a III-V compound semiconducting material and the grainboundary material is an insulating, semi-insulating, or semiconductingmaterial consisting of a metal halide comprising an alkali element fromthe first (I) column or a transition-metal having chemical propertiessimilar to an alkali metal, and a halogen element selected from theseventh (VII) column of the periodic table. The semiconductingcrystalline grains may be a II-VI compound semiconductor and the grainboundary material may be silicon, silicon carbide, germanium, tin or anadmixture thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustratively shown and described in referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts the physical structure of a prior art quantum well fieldeffect transistor.

FIG. 2 depicts the energy band diagram of the quantum well device ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts a fully integrated silicon chip carrier.

FIG. 4 is a table listing charged carrier mobilities in variouselemental and compound semiconductors.

FIG. 5A depicts a polycrystalline semiconductor containing nanoscalegrains that have metallic elements lodged within the grain boundaries.

FIG. 5B depicts a polycrystalline semiconductor containing nanoscalegrains that have insulating compounds lodged within the grainboundaries.

FIG. 6A depicts a two-dimensional (2-D) image of the energy bandstructure of a three-dimensional (3-D) quantum-dot semiconductor layerformed within a polycrystalline semiconductor matrix comprised ofnanoscale grains that have metallic elements lodged within the grainboundaries.

FIG. 6B depicts a two-dimensional (2-D) image of the energy bandstructure of a three-dimensional (3-D) quantum-dot semiconductor layerformed within a polycrystalline semiconductor matrix comprised ofnanoscale grains that have insulating compounds lodged within the grainboundaries.

FIG. 7 provides a cross-sectional view of a quantum dot field effecttransistor.

FIGS. 8A,8B,8C are cross-sectional substrate views used to depict themethod for making the semiconductor layer of a quantum well field effecttransistor using a halogenated metalorganic precursor compound.

FIG. 8D is a chemical diagram of a metalorganic precursor compound thatcan be used in association with FIGS. 8A-8C.

FIG. 9 depicts an IGBT power FET that contains a nanoscalepolycrystalline 3D electron gas layer.

FIG. 10 depicts a semiconductor carrier comprising a quantum-dotopto-electronic or photonic device monolithically integrated onto itssurface.

FIG. 11 is a Table I showing Representative Grain-Grain BoundaryCombinations for Insulating/Semi-insulating/Semiconducting GrainBoundaries for certain materials.

FIG. 12 is a Table II showing Representative Grain-Grain BoundaryCombinations for Insulating/Semi-insulating/Semiconducting GrainBoundaries for certain materials.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

This application is copending with de Rochemont U.S. Ser. No.13/168,922, entitled “SEMICONDUCTOR CARRIER WITH VERTICAL FET POWERMODULE”, filed Jun. 24, 2011 (de Rochemont '922), and de Rochemont U.S.Ser. No. 13/163,654, entitled “FREQUENCY-SELECTIVE DIPOLE ANTENNA”,filed Jun. 17, 2011 (de Rochemont '654), which are incorporated hereinby reference. The current application instructs means to insert a bulksemiconductor layer into an active component integrated on asemiconductor carrier, where the bulk semiconductor layer has thicknessgreater than 50 nm and exhibits general dielectric properties of anelectron gas. One counterpart application (de Rochemont '922) instructsmeans to fully integrate a high efficiency, power management system as amonolithic structure on a semiconductor carrier to modulate high currentlevels using a resonant three-dimensional gate structure enabled byserpentine windings. The other counterpart application, (de Rochemont'654), instructs methods to form a conducting element as a serpentinewinding by folding the conducting element in ways that introducelocalized regions of capacitive or inductive loading, such that thecombination of localized reactive loads along the length of the foldedconductor form a distributed network filter. It goes on to illustratehow two mirror image serpentine elements so formed function as a dipoleantenna that is resonant over selective frequencies. The counterpartapplication de Rochemont '654 also instructs the insertion oftight-tolerance electroceramic material within the regions of localizedreactive loading to increase or more precisely tune the couplingstrength of localized reactive loads. The current application is alsofiled jointly with de Rochemont U.S. Ser. No. 13/216,692, entitled“POWER FET WITH RESONANT TRANSISTOR GATE”, filed Aug. 23, 2011 (deRochemont '692), which is incorporated herein by reference. Theco-pending application de Rochemont '692 instructs a power managementmodule that modulates large currents at low current densities atpre-determined frequencies and methods to form the power managementmodule on a semiconductor carrier.

The current application incorporates by reference all matter containedin de Rochemont, U.S. Ser. No. 11/479,159, filed Jun. 30, 2006, entitled“ELECTRICAL COMPONENT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE” (the '159 application),de Rochemont, U.S. Ser. No. 11/620,042 filed Jan. 6, 2007 entitled“POWER MANAGEMENT MODULES” (the '042 application), de Rochemont andKovacs, U.S. Ser. No. 12/843,112 filed Jul. 26, 2010, “LIQUID CHEMICALDEPOSITION PROCESS APPARATUS AND EMBODIMENTS”, (the '112 application),de Rochemont U.S. Ser. No. 13/152,222, entitled “MONOLITHIC DC/DC POWERMANAGEMENT MODULE WITH SURFACE FET”, filed Jun. 2, 2011 (the '222application), and de Rochemont, U.S. Ser. No. 13/182,405, entitled“CUTTING TOOL AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE”, filed Jul. 13, 2011 (the '405application). The '159 application discloses how LCD methods fabricate amonolithic integrated circuit comprising tight tolerance passivenetworks. The '042 application discloses how liquid chemical deposition(“LCD”) methods fabricate a monolithic integrated power managementmodule that includes a tunable inductor coil. The '112 applicationdiscloses preferred apparatus used in applying LCD methods. The '222application instructs the monolithic integration of a low-loss powermanagement circuit containing a surface FET. The '405 applicationdiscloses LCD methods to fabricate carbide, nitride and MAX-phasematerials, such as silicon carbide, or complex chemistries thatincorporate silicon and carbon elements.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 3-10 to better illustrate thesignificance of this invention. FIG. 3 depicts a semiconductor chipcarrier 100. The present invention may be applied to high-speedcomputing modules, RF radio modules, fully integrated radar modules,photonic modules, and opto-electronic modules. It may also apply to anycircuit containing such a module or combination of the aforementionedmodules that requires high power densities and high switching speedcircuitry. As depicted herein, the semiconductor chip carrier 100contains a plurality of integrated circuits (semiconductor chips) 102A,102B, 102C, 102D mounted either in discrete or stacked configuration onthe carrier substrate 103. The carrier substrate 103 is a largersemiconductor chip that has electrically conductive traces on itssurface that are used to interconnect various components mounted orintegrated thereupon. Additional low-level active circuitry, (not shownfor clarity), may be embedded within the carrier substrate 103. Suchlow-level active circuitry may include, but need not be limited to,latching, sensing, switching and signal drift circuitry useful in busmanagement systems. LCD processes may be used to integrate additionalcircuitry on the surface of the carrier substrate 103, that may include,but need not be limited to, critical tolerance inductor coils 104A, 104Bare used to form a tight tolerance LC circuit that stabilizes oractively tunes circuit clocking speeds, and/or passive networks 106 thatare monolithically formed on the surface of the carrier substrate 103.

It is anticipated that the integrated circuit semiconductor die 102 willhave power demand requirements in excess of 750 W-inch² as semiconductormanufacturing tolerances progress beyond the 22 nm line feature node.High-efficiency, high-speed fully integrated power management modules108 are monolithically formed on the chip carrier 100, using methods andembodiments detailed in the '042, '122, '159, '222, '654, '692, '922applications incorporated herein by reference. These methods andembodiments may be used to optimize data transfer between memory devicesand processor die, or other semiconductor die co-located on thesemiconductor carrier 100.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 4-8A,8B,8C,8D to describe how uniqueattributes of LCD manufacturing methods are applied to integratesemiconductor layers having thicknesses greater than 20-50 nm that areendowed with nanoscale microstructures necessary to generatethree-dimensional (3D) electron gases within a semiconductor layer. Asdisclosed in the above referenced applications, LCD manufacturingmethods allow dissimilar and “mismatched” materials with atomic-scalechemical uniformity and stoichiometric precision to be integrated inselected areas on the surface of semiconductor substrate with surfaceadhesion that is stronger than the tensile strength of the depositedmaterial. Unlike conventional material deposition techniques, LCD placesno restriction on the number of elemental (chemical) components that canbe incorporated with high compositional precision into the depositedmaterial, which enables materials having high chemical complexity to beintegrated into a monolithic structure. The low process temperatures(≦400° C.) used by LCD do not alter dopant profiles of active componentsburied within the semiconductor substrate. These low depositiontemperatures allow the LCD deposit to initially form as a uniform solidsolution. This, in turn, provides means to form microstructures in LCDdeposits that are restricted to nanoscale dimensions by the subsequentapplication of rapid thermal annealing processes. Uniform chemicaldistribution and nanoscale microstructures (crystalline grain size) area necessary condition to integrate electroceramic passive componentshaving functional properties that remain stable with varyingtemperature, which satisfies critical performance tolerances needed tomake the monolithic integration of passive circuitry withinsystem-in-package (SiP) or a system-on-chip (SoC) economically viable.These unique attributes also enable the nanoscale modification ofpolycrystalline semiconductor materials that comprise a uniform assemblyof granular quantum wells needed to form a 3D electron quantum gas.

FIG. 4 presents a table listing the charged carrier (electron-hole)mobilities of various semiconductors that can be used by the presentinvention. Higher switching speeds are enabled in semiconductor systemsthat have higher charged carrier mobility. As instructed by the priorart (see FIGS. 1 & 2), ultra-high speed field effect transistors (FETs)are constructed using high charged carrier mobility semiconductormaterials. These semiconductor materials typically have low effectiveelectron mass, large ballistic mean free path and high saturationvelocities. Preferred high carrier mobility semiconductor materials,such as indium antimonide (InSb), typically have low band gap energies,which makes them prone to avalanche breakdown generated by impactionization. Since the impact ionization threshold essentiallycorresponds to the material band gap, the electric fields generated fromrelatively low source-drain voltages (V_(DS)) will give rise toavalanche breakdown and runaway currents that risk linear response andthermal runaway. Avalanche breakdown prevents high-speed FETs from beingused in applications requiring relatively high operational voltages,such as modulators, amplifiers or FET-based logic devices, it alsorestricts high frequency gain values. These constraints inhibitapplication in systems where high power frequency signal amplificationor management is desirable, such as high-speed computing or mobilecommunications platforms. Electron gases formed within quantum wells canfurther reduce effective electron mass and minimize avalanche breakdownin low band gap semiconductors.

The prior art of FIGS. 1 & 2 instructs that runaway currents can becurtailed in low band gap semiconductors by forming a planar quantumwell 28 by sandwiching the high carrier mobility/low band gap energysemiconductor as an ultra-thin layer 6 (20-50 nm thick) between layers5,7 of a wider band gap semiconductor material, which in turn aresandwiched by layers 3,4 of an even wider band gap semiconductor. Thenarrow thickness of the ultra-thin layer 6 induces quantization effectswithin the quantum well 28 confined by energy band edges 26,27. Thesequantization effects produce a 2D-electron gas having high electronmobility within the primary conduction channel defined by the quantumwell 28. The adjacent layers 5,7 comprising wider band gap semiconductorare selected to have conduction bands 21,22 that are close to the impactionization threshold of the semiconductor material contained in theprimary conduction channel 6. This enables a secondary channel. Sincethe width of the secondary conduction channel 2 is greater than thedimensions needed to induce quantization effects, a 2D-electron gas isonly created in the quantum well 28 of the primary conduction channel.This leads to a tradeoff that diminishes switching speeds, but mitigatesavalanche currents by allowing some of the carriers that would otherwisereach impact ionization thresholds in the primary conduction channel 28to be diverted to the secondary channel 2, which has higher ionizationthresholds. The prior art instructs that the semiconductor material usedin the primary and secondary conduction channels in an ultra-high speedFET be formed using epitaxial methods to produce crystallinesemiconductor that maximizes the carrier mobility, velocity and meanfree path.

While the prior art teaches the use of multi-layer structures thatinduce 2D-electron gases within an ultra-thin plane of the ultra-highspeed FET, the limitation restricting the primary conduction channel tothicknesses of 20-50 nm limits the overall currents that can bechanneled through the high-electron mobility layers. Ultra-thin layerswill cause high current densities that rapidly increase the probabilityof impact ionization and avalanche currents even at low power levels.Therefore, it is desirable to develop methods and embodiments thatinduce high electron mobility in semiconductor materials havingthicknesses greater than 20-50 nm to reduce power densities in thehigh-speed layer. Higher currents can be achieved under the prior art,by creating multiple multi-layer structures comprising primary andsecondary conduction channels. It is therefore desirable to produce aquantized conduction channel that has considerably greater thicknesssince the approach using multiple multi-layer structures hassubstantially higher cost and limited economic value when compared to asimilar device that enables electron gas properties in a singlesemiconductor layer that is thicker than 20-50 nm. It is also desirableto develop methods and embodiments that enable electron gases in widerband gap semiconductor materials to better manage impact ionizationthresholds.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 5A,5B,6A,6B to illustrate how thenanoscale microstructure controls enabled by LCD manufacturing methodsare used to produce semiconductor layers that have three-dimensional(3D) electron gases. FIGS. 5A,5B show cross sections of threedimensional microscopic volumes of polycrystalline semiconductormaterial 120 that consists of matrix of semiconducting grains 122 thathave a maximum physical dimension 123 less than 50 nm in diameter,preferably a maximum physical dimension 123 in the range of 20-50 nm.The polycrystalline material may comprise an elemental semiconductor,such as silicon or germanium, a IV-IV semiconductor, containing aplurality of elements from column IV of the periodic table, or consistsof III-V semiconducting compounds, more preferably compositionallycomplex III-V semiconducting compounds. Depending upon the deviceapplication, certain aspects of the present invention would favor theuse of II-VI or IV-VI compound semiconductors, preferablycompositionally complex II-VI or IV-VI compound semiconductors.

Ordinarily, polycrystalline semiconductors have greatly reduced chargecarrier mobilities due to the reduced mean free paths caused by thelattice dislocations encountered as the charge carrier attempts tonavigate the grain boundary. However, maximum physical dimensions 123 inthe range 20-50 nm are small enough to form quantum wells that inducequantization effects as each grain 122 of the polycrystallinesemiconductor material 120 becomes a quantum dot within the bulkmaterial when a chemically distinct material envelops the grain 122 atthe grain boundaries 124,126. The quantum dot thereby produces athree-dimensional (3D) electron gas within each grain 122. Quantumtunneling mechanisms represent the fastest charge transfer mechanismacross an energy barrier, occurring at femtosecond time periods, anadditional preferred aspect of the present invention strengthens theenergy barrier by optionally enveloping the semiconducting grains 122with thin layers (2-10 nm thick, preferably 2-5 nm thick) of metallicgrain boundary material 124 (FIG. 5A) or insulating grain boundarymaterial 126 (FIG. 5B). The quantization effects induced by thephase-separated materials diffused into the grain boundaries are shownin FIGS. 6A,6B. FIG. 6A depicts the energy band diagrams 130 of a3D-electron gas, as viewed along any of the cross-sections A-A′, B-B′,C-C'(FIG. 5A), that are established by the junctions created when 20-50nm polycrystalline semiconducting grains 122 are enveloped by metallicgrain boundary material 124, which has a thickness ranging from 1 nm to10 nm, but is preferably in the range of 2-4 nm. The metal-semiconductorinterfaces 131A,131B,131C,131D form junction barriers132A,132B,132C,132D through the equilibration of the Fermi level 133 inmetallic grain boundaries 134A,134B and the semiconducting grains135A,135B,135C. The equilibration process will cause electrons in themetallic grain boundaries and holes in the semiconducting grains tocollect at the interface. The strong depletion fields in thesemiconductor regions will cause the conduction bands 136A,136B,136C tobend thereby producing energy wells 137A,137B,137C that quantize theelectron energy levels 138 in the conduction bands to form a 3D-electrongas. At metal-semiconductor junctions, the height 139 of the junctionbarriers (φ_(B)) 132A,132B,132C,132D between the quantum energy wells137A,137B,137C generally given by:

qφ _(B) =q(φ_(m)−χ)  (1)

where q is the electron charge, φ_(m) is the metal work function and χis the semiconductor electron affinity. Conduction electrons injectedinto and contained within the quantized energy levels 138 will tunnelthrough the junction barriers (φ_(B)) 132A,132B,132C,132D at femtosecondtransit speeds, which thereby makes very fast semiconductor switchingspeeds possible when these materials are configured in field effecttransistor structures. The thin metallic grain boundary material 124 isa limitation in an FET-switched device as it will carry leakage currentsthat are undesirable in most applications. Therefore, it is preferableto form the polycrystalline semiconductor 121 that has electricallyinsulating or semi-insulating/semiconducting grain boundary material 126enveloping the semiconductor grains 122 as depicted in FIG. 5B. Abruptjunctions between the insulating grain boundary material 126 and thesemiconductor grain 122 will produce characteristically differentquantum well structures. FIG. 6B depicts the energy band diagrams 140 ofa 3D-electron gas, as viewed along any of the cross-sections D-D′, E-E′,or F-F′ (see FIG. 5B) that are established by the junctions created when20-50 nm polycrystalline semiconducting grains 122 are enveloped by aninsulating grain boundary material 126, which has a thickness rangingfrom 1 nm to 10 nm, but is preferably in the range of 2-5 nm.Alternatively, the insulator may alternatively be a wider band gapsemiconductor to produce a heterojunction between the grain 122 and thegrain boundary 126 materials. The insulator-semiconductor interfaces141A,141B,141C,141D form junction barriers 142A,142B through theequilibration of the Fermi level 143 in insulating grain boundaries144A,144B and the semiconducting grains 145A,145B,145C. The offsets inthe conduction band edges 146A and valence band edges 146B between inthe semiconductor and insulator regions will create energy wells147A,147B,147C in the semiconductor grains 145A,145B,145C that quantizethe electron energy levels 148 in the conduction bands 149 to form a3D-electron gas. Similar quantization occurs in the hole energy levels150 in the valence bands 151 of the semiconductor grains 147A,147B,147C.Since the semiconductor material is polycrystalline, the charge carriershave very short mean free paths (20-50 nm) and ballistic conductioncurrents never achieve the high velocities needed to generate impactionization. Furthermore, tunneling currents having femtosecond transittimes dominate conduction mechanisms between quantum wells in thispolycrystalline semiconductor material. These transport processes enablefast switching speeds and reduce the risk of avalanche breakdown asballistic electrons never form and the quantum energy wells distributedthroughout the solid effectively shield atoms in the crystal latticefrom the conducting electrons. A 3D electron (hole) gas is formed sincethe grains are roughly spherical and trap electrons in athree-dimensional quantum energy well through which the electrons maytunnel in all directions.

As discussed in greater detail below, thermodynamic and/or chemicalincompatibility is required to phase separate the grain material fromthe grain boundary material while processing the polycrystalline grains.As shown in Tables I & II (FIGS. 11 and 12), insulating, semi-insulatingor semiconducting grain boundary materials 126 that consist primarily ofelements found in a column of the periodic table that is separated by atleast 2 or 3 columns from the elements comprising the nanoscalepolycrystalline grains achieves this thermodynamic/chemicalincompatibility. Table I lists representative combinations of group IVand III-V compound semiconductors (left hand side) that can be usedwithin grains 122 that are enveloped by insulating, semi-insulating, orwide band gap II-VI and/or I-VII semiconductor materials located in thegrain boundaries 126. Table II lists representative combinations of lowband gap II-VI compound semiconductors (left hand side) that can be usedwithin grains 122 that are enveloped by insulating, semi-insulating, orwide band gap group VI semiconductor materials located in the grainboundaries 126. Similar relationships with respect to column rankingapply when enveloping semiconducting grains 122 with conductive grainboundary materials 124. Since LCD manufacturing methods enable thechemical integration of high chemical complexity materials, it should beclearly understood that III-V and II-VI semiconducting compounds neednot be limited to binary compositions, but can easily comprise 3 or moreelemental components.

The principal advantage afforded by these polycrystalline semiconductorsis that devices having arbitrarily thick conduction channels can beeasily constructed in contrast to the prior art in which the primaryconduction channels 6 are limited to 20-50 nm layer thicknesses as shownin FIG. 1. FIG. 7 depicts a significant aspect of the present invention,which provides means to construct a electrically active field, fieldeffect transistor (FET) device 160 that can carry more substantialcurrents than the prior art. Since polycrystalline semiconductor reducesthe mean free path of conduction electrons and the associated risk ofavalanche breakdown caused by high ballistic velocities, the 3-Delectron (and hole) gas(es) produced therein do not need to be confinedin thin primary conduction channels 6 surrounded by one or more widerband gap semiconductor layers 7,8, and 3,4. Under the present invention,the primary conduction channel 161 may have polycrystallinesemiconductor layer thickness ranging from 20 nm to 10 microns (μm),preferably greater than 50 nm and most likely 1-2 μm, thereby allowingmuch higher currents to be modulated at significantly lower currentdensities. Since the present invention forms the electron gas by thenanoscale microstructure of the semiconductor layer itself rather thanthe quantum-size effects induced by the energy barriers betweensemiconductors, it enables the use of wide band gap material in theconduction channel, such as silicon (E_(gap)=1.11 eV) or galliumarsenide (E_(gap)=1.43 eV) that is less susceptible to impact ionizationthan the low band gap counterparts like indium antimonide (E_(gap)=0.17eV). In cases where it might be advantageous to insert a low band gapmaterial in a conduction channel thicker than 50 nm, the conductionchannel may optionally have additional layers 162,163 comprising a widerband gap semiconductor material inserted between it and the substrate164 and/or the gate electrode 165. Voltages applied to the gateelectrode 165 are used to vary electric fields through the gate oxide166 to modulate current flow in the primary conduction channel 161between the source 167 and the drain 168 regions. Electrical contact ismade to the source 167 and drain 168 regions using an ohmic sourceelectrode 169 and drain electrode 170, respectively.

Since the modulated currents multilayer 2D-electron gas structuresinstructed by the prior art limit high-speed current transport toprimary conduction channel(s) 6 that are 20-50 nm thick, forty (40) toone hundred (100) such layers would be required to transport equivalentcurrents in a single two (2) micron thick 3D-electron gas primaryconduction channel 161 described by the present invention. Thehigh-speed quantum dot field effect transistor may be integrated in anycircuit using LCD methods, apparatus, and processes, including, but notlimited to, power management devices or silicon carriers that are usedin high-speed computing processes or radio applications.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 8A,8B,8C,8D to describe how liquidchemical deposition (LCD) methods are used to form the polycrystalline3D-electron gas semiconductor layers 161. de Rochemont et al. '112,incorporated herein by way of reference, describes the apparatus?,processes used by the LCD process to form an amorphous layer 171 on asubstrate 172. The substrate 172 may comprise an appropriately dopedsemiconductor wafer or a semiconductor layer. The amorphous layer 171 isformed on the substrate 172 by decomposing an aerosol spray of lowvolatility liquid metalorganic precursors consisting of a stoichiometricmixture of the desired semiconductor compound, its electronic dopants(if desired), and its grain boundary materials in an inert or reducinggas environments. The substrate 172 needs to be heated to a temperaturethat will pyrolyze liquid precursor compounds having the highestdecomposition temperature, typically 200° C. to 500° C., preferably 300°C. to 400° C. The inert or reducing gas atmosphere may comprise nitrogenor noble gases, hydrogen, and/or reducing partial pressure ratios ofcarbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (by means of applying an aerosolspray of liquid metalorganic precursors to an appropriately dopedsemiconductor layer or wafer which functions as the substrate 172 (FIG.8A). The amorphous layer may comprise an elemental semiconductor withelectrical and other dopants, or it may be a compound semiconductor withelectrical and other dopants. The LCD process enables the amorphouslayer to have a precise ratio of chemical components that iscompositionally uniform at the atomic scale. Spray deposition isfollowed by a bake out step that heats the substrate and deposit totemperatures between 400° C. and 600° C. for 2-20 minutes to remove anyresidual organic material that did not pyrolyze during the aerosol spraydeposition step. The presence of any liquid species in the deposit willaccelerate the deterioration of atomic scale chemical uniformity duringsubsequent annealing steps.

A plasma annealing step is then used to render the amorphous layer 171into a polycrystalline layer 173 that has uniform microstructure withgrain sizes 174 ranging between 20-50 nm. Other thermal processingmethods may be used to render the amorphous deposit into apolycrystalline state, but rapid thermal annealing process, and plasmaannealing processes in particular, are preferred. The substrate 172 anddeposit 171 may be pre-heated to temperatures in the range of 40° C. to400° C. during the ionized plasma annealing step. Argon gas is theprimary ballast used in the plasma annealing step, with additional gasadditives consisting of nitrogen and/or carbon monoxide and carbondioxide not exceeding 20% partial pressures. Total atmospheric pressuresin the range of 1500 to 5000 mTorr, with power settings ranging from 50W to 300 W for periods of 5 to 60 seconds are preferred for generatingnanoscale polycrystalline semiconducting grains enveloped with adistinct phase grain boundary material.

It is desirable to select metallic species that will be driven towardsthe grain boundaries by thermodynamic processes during the annealingstep to form metallic grain boundaries. In the early-stages ofcrystalline nucleation, cooperative forces will create crystallinefields that atomically organize the majority elements in the amorphousdeposit 171 into its thermodynamically most favored crystalline phase.The cooperative forces will be driven by the majority chemicalconcentrations, causing chemically compatible elements to be drawn intothe crystal nucleation process while expelling chemically incompatibleelements to the grain boundaries. For example, if silicon is themajority chemical element, present in the deposit at levels exceeding99.99 mol %, the crystalline fields that build during the nucleationprocess will favor the incorporation of elements that have similarcharge and molecular orbital orientations, such as germanium. It istherefore desirable to select grain boundary materials from metallicelements that have incompatible charge and orbital characteristics tothe semiconductor compound being formed within the grain, such as thoseshown in Tables I & II. Elements that are located in the columns of ThePeriodic Table furthest away from the column in which the semiconductingelements are drawn from satisfy this requirement. Therefore,metalorganic precursors to alkali metals or alkaline earth metals, inconcentrations of 0.0001 to 0.5 mol %, are added to the liquid precursorsolution used to form the amorphous deposit when it is desirable to formmetallic grain boundaries 175 in the polycrystalline deposit 173. Alkalimetals are preferred over alkaline earth metals. Halogenatedmetalorganic precursors to alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, ortransition metals are added to the liquid precursor solution when it isdesirable to form insulating grain boundaries 176 that comprise any ofthe I-VII grain boundary materials depicted in Tables I and II in thepolycrystalline deposit 173. Precursor molecules 177 essentially “carry”a metallic element 178 attached to an organic molecule that decomposeson the surface where the metallic element 178 is eventually deposited.Halogenated precursors will substitute one or more of the hydrogenelements 179 in the organic molecule with a halide element 180 from thegroup: fluorine, chlorine, iodine, or bromine. Halogenated alkali oralkaline earth metal precursors allows the elemental constituents ofinsulating compounds, comprising either a singular alkali or alkalineearth halide or a plurality of alkali or alkaline earth halides, to betransported to the deposition surface and integrated into the amorphousdeposit and driven into the grain boundary regions 176 in a subsequentplasma annealing step. As explained in greater detail within application'405, silicon carbide or aluminum nitride material phases can beintroduced to the amorphous deposit 171 by forming a colloidalsuspension of liquid metalorganic precursors and silicon carbide oraluminum nitride nanoparticles. These nanoparticle carbide and nitridephases will migrate to the grain boundaries during plasma annealing whentheir molar concentrations are held between 0.0001 mol % and 0.75 mol %.

A specific advantage to the present invention is its ability to use the3D electron gases generated by the nanoscale polycrystallinesemiconductors to increase the carrier mobility within a specific layeror in a plurality of layers, which is not possible under the prior art.In the prior art described by Phillips '292, a 2D electron gas isgenerated by forming quantum wells by sandwiching a layer of low bandgap semiconductor, such as indium antimonide (InSb, E_(gap)=0.17 eV),between epitaxial layers of higher band gap semiconductors. (See FIGS.1&2). Low band gap semiconductors such as InSb can have very high chargecarrier mobility, as shown in FIG. 4, but they are also susceptible toavalanche currents due to impact ionization processes that causeconduction band electrons accelerated by electrical drift to knockvalence band electrons off of the atoms to which they are bound. Thisprocess generates excess conduction band electrons that generate runawayswitching currents which compromise performance. The 2D quantum wellscreate a quantized energy band structure within the planar low band gapsemiconductor that effectively shields the valence band electrons fromthe conduction electrons travelling through the layer at ballisticvelocities. Additional layers 3,4 of wider band gap semiconductor 24,25can be added to further mitigate impact ionization processes. The 2Dquantum wells shield valence band electrons and minimize electromagneticinteractions between the free electrons and the valence band electronsbound to the atoms forming the semiconductor material. The shieldingreduces the conduction electron's effective mass, (“inertia”), whichmakes it more responsive to drift transport mechanisms under theinfluence of an applied electric field.

As mentioned above, tunneling processes represent the fastest electrontransport mechanism. Tunneling processes are possible between adjacentquantum wells (not shown), but not within a low band gap semiconductorlayer since there are no energy barriers within layer forming the bottomof the well. (Adjacent quantum wells can be visualized by imagining aplurality of multilayer structures in the vertical direction of FIG. 1.)The principal benefits to a planar 2D electron gas is a lowered electron(and hole) effective mass and reduced susceptibility to impactionization within a very thin (20-50 nm) layer of a low-band gapsemiconductor layer.

As mentioned above, the 3D quantum wells of the present inventioninterject an energy barrier at the boundary of every grain. Therefore,the mean free path of any conduction electron is limited to thenanoscale dimension of the grain (20 nm to 50 nm). The drifting electronwill then encounter a thin (2 nm to 10 nm) energy barrier through whichit will tunnel. The combination of reduced mean free path (reducedimpact ionization) and tunneling currents in the direction or primarydrift currents allows all types of semiconductor materials to supportfast transport processes in any direction, without the restriction oflimiting the modulated current to a 20-50 nm layer.

This advantage is particularly important in power FET devices,opto-electronic or photonic devices as any of the layers 161,162,163,164(see FIG. 7) may be formed as an arbitrarily thick semiconducting 3Delectron gas. Additionally, each individual layer 161,162,163,164 may becomposed of semiconducting grains having an energy band gap that isdistinct from the band gap in a neighboring polycrystallinesemiconducting layer. This aspect of the invention is particularlybeneficial to device structures where switching speeds are limited byreduced carrier mobility in bulk semiconducting layers by virtue of thelayer's electronic doping, as is the case with the insulated gatebipolar transistor (IGBT) where the p⁺-doping layer will limit switchingspeeds. FIG. 9 depicts a cross-sectional view of an IGBT device 200integrated on the silicon chip carrier, which may optionally include thesemiconductor carrier substrate 202 and electrode 204 that functions asa ground and a heat sink. LCD enables the insertion of a very thinamorphous layer 206 that allows a single crystal p⁺-type semiconductordrain layer comprising a semiconducting 3D electron gas layer 208 to bedeposited upon the drain electrode 204, which may also comprise a 3Delectron gas layer. A p-n junction 210 forms between the p⁺-typesemiconductor drain layer 208 and an n-type semiconductor layer 212 thatmay optionally consist of 3D electron gas polycrystalline material. Then⁻-type semiconductor layer is electrically patterned with p-typesubchannel 214A,214B,214C and n+-type dopant profiles216A,216B,216C,216D that are in electrical communication with the sourceelectrode 218. The insulated gate electrode 220 modulates inversioncarrier populations in a channel 222 that allow currents to flow fromthe drain 208 to the source electrode 218. The gate electrode 220 isencapsulated within a low loss high-dielectric breakdown insulatingmaterial 224A,224B, preferably an amorphous silica insulating material.Any or all of the semiconductor layers may consist of a nanoscaleengineered polycrystalline semiconductor modified to generate a 3Delectron gas. Since LCD deposition methods also enable three dimensionalmonolithic materials integration, vertical conduction channelsconsisting of 3D electron gas semiconductor regions 226A,226B,228A,228Bthat may be optionally added to the device structure, wherein each ofthe 3D electron gas semiconductor regions 226A,226B,228A,228B maycomprise polycrystalline grains having energy band gaps that differ fromthe energy band gaps in any of the adjacent semiconductor material inthe IGBT device 200, thus forming a plurality of heterostructures withinthe three-dimensionally pattered monolithic structure.

A final embodiment is depicted in FIG. 10, which depicts asemiconducting carrier 250 that consists of a power management module252 monolithically integrated upon the surface of the carrier substrate254, one or more semiconductor die 256 mounted thereupon, and anopto-electronic or photonic device 258 that contains a 3D electron gassemiconducting layer 260 embedded within it.

It is readily understood that the quantum well technology andmanufacturing methods described herein may be easily applied to anyother form of quantum well devices, including but not limited tomultiplexers, signal encoders, and sensors. It is further readilyunderstood that the devices described above embody methods ofmanufacture and methods of operation which are also new and non-obviouswith respect to the prior art.

The present invention is illustratively described above in reference tothe disclosed embodiments. Various modifications and changes may be madeto the disclosed embodiments by persons skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention as defined in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A three-dimensional polycrystalline semiconductormaterial, comprising: a major ingredient forming individual crystallinegrains having a nominal maximum grain diameter less than or equal to 50nm; and a minor ingredient forming boundaries between the individualcrystalline grains.
 2. The material of claim 1, wherein the minoringredient surrounds the crystalline grains of the major ingredient. 3.The material of claim 1, wherein quantum size effects within thepolycrystalline material induce a free electron gas characteristic of aquantum well.
 4. The material of claim 3, wherein the polycrystallinematerial forms a three-dimensional quantum well structure.
 5. Thematerial of claim 1, wherein the molar concentrations of the minoringredient are between 0.0001 mol % and 0.75 mol % of thepolycrystalline material.
 6. The material of claim 1, wherein the majoringredient comprising the crystalline grains is silicon, germanium, tin,or any admixture thereof.
 7. The material of claim 6, wherein the minoringredient forming the grain boundaries is an insulating,semi-insulating, or semiconducting material consisting of a metal halidecomprising an alkali element from the first (I) column or an alkalineearth element from second (II) column of the periodic table, or atransition-metal having chemical properties similar to an alkali oralkaline earth metal, and a halogen element selected from the seventh(VII) column of the periodic table.
 8. The material of claim 7, whereinthe insulating or semi-insulating material has an energy band gap thatis larger than the band gap of the semiconductor material comprising thepolycrystalline grain.
 9. The material of claim 1, wherein the majoringredient comprising crystalline grains is a III-V compoundsemiconducting material and the minor ingredient forming the boundariesis an insulating, semi-insulating, or semiconducting material consistingof a metal halide comprising an alkali element from the first (I) columnor a transition-metal having chemical properties similar to an alkalimetal, and a halogen element selected from the seventh (VII) column ofthe periodic table.
 10. The material of claim 1, wherein the majoringredient of the crystalline grains is a II-VI compound semiconductorand the minor ingredient forming the boundaries is silicon, siliconcarbide, germanium, tin or an admixture thereof.
 11. The material ofclaim 1, wherein the polycrystalline material has a three dimensionalsize that is greater than 50 nm in every direction.
 12. The material ofclaim 1, wherein the polycrystalline material is monolithicallyintegrated into an active device.
 13. The material of claim 12, whereinthe active device is a field effect transistor, an opto-electronicdevice or a photonic device.
 14. A semiconductor carrier, comprising anactive device including a semiconductor layer that is monolithicallyintegrated into the semiconductor carrier and is comprised of ananoscale polycrystalline assembly including semiconducting crystallinegrains having maximal physical dimensions in the range of 20 nm to 50 nmthat are enveloped by a grain boundary material that is 2 nm to 10 nmthick, such that the quantum size effects within the polycrystallinegrain induce a free electron gas characteristic of a quantum well. 15.The semiconductor carrier of claim 14, wherein the active device isfield effect transistor, an opto-electronic device or a photonic device.16. The semiconductor carrier of claim 14, wherein the active devicecomprises a power management module monolithically integrated on to itssurface.
 17. The semiconductor carrier of claim 14, wherein the activedevice comprises a semiconductor die.
 18. The semiconductor carrier ofclaim 14, wherein the semiconductor carrier has active circuitryembedded within the carrier substrate.
 19. A method of fabricating asemiconductor layer comprised of a nanoscale polycrystalline assemblyincluding semiconducting crystalline grains having maximal physicaldimensions in the range of 20 nm to 50 nm that are enveloped by a grainboundary material that is 2 nm to 10 nm thick, such that the quantumsize effects within the polycrystalline grain induce a free electron gascharacteristic of a quantum well, comprising the following steps:forming a solution of low volatility liquid metalorganic precursorshaving stoichiometric ratios suitable for producing majority phasepolycrystalline grains consisting of an elemental semiconductor or adesired compound semiconductor stoichiometry; adding to said solutiondopants in concentrations in the range of 0.0001 mol % to 0.5 mol %having stoichiometric ratios suitable for producing an insulating,semi-insulating, or semiconducting secondary phase material in the grainboundary of the majority phase polycrystalline grains; adding to saidsolution precursors for the dopants to the majority phasepolycrystalline grains in the concentrations desired within thepolycrystalline grains; heating a substrate upon which the semiconductorlayer will be formed a temperature in the range of 250° C. to 500° C.;simultaneously decomposing the non-volatile metalorganic precursors onthe substrate in an inert or reducing gas atmosphere to form anamorphous deposit having stoichiometric precision that is chemicallyuniform at the atomic scale; baking said amorphous deposit to removeorganic residue from the deposit; annealing said baked deposit for aminimum of 5 seconds in ionized argon plasma using an applied power of50 W to 300 W at a substrate temperature between 40° C. and 400° C. anda pressure in the range of 1,500 mTorr to 5,000 mTorr; and optionallyadding nitrogen, and/or reducing partial pressure ratios of carbondioxide and carbon monoxide to the ionized argon plasma.
 20. The methodof claim 19, wherein the semiconducting material comprising thecrystalline grains is silicon, germanium, tin, or any admixture thereof.